Tell me about Auxiliary/Reserves.

[MrWingo]

I'm trying to find out what the reserves will offer me, and more importantly what I can offer my community by joining the reserves. I've been in contact with my local department, and I'm considering applying for their reserve program. It seems as if this would be a good opportunity for me to learn how the job works without having to take time out of my current career, and also to build up a little bit of experience if and when I apply for a full-time position down the road.

Can anyone give me an idea of what I should expect? I'm reasonably sure that the reserves in my area aren't fully sworn officers, they don't carry weapons (which is perfectly fine, as that's not my reason for being interested in the job in the first place) but they do perform other police duties. Are there any specific questions that I should ask? When I apply, should I come in a suit? I'm in a "suit" position at work (I run an IT department) but it's not my wish to appear pretentious.

As always, thanks for the advice!

[ChesCopPodz]

Different places have different duties for reserves. Some places pay their reserves as part time officers. Other departments use reserves to handle minor things such as minor incident reports, traffic direction, etc. Some places reserves are sworn and have full police powers, others not. My department has sworn reserves will full powers. They drive the prisoner transport van on weekends and can ride with a full time officer, or if there are 2 of them, they can ride in a unit together without a full timer.

[MrWingo]

I do know that the reserves in my area are volunteer only; they aren't paid. But that's okay, because I already have a paying job. I just want to help out (and have the experience) in my spare time.

[hscop]

What state are you in? In california we have three levels of reserves. The two top levels are sworn positions. Where I work, we only have the top level reserves. That means you go though the same training program as any full-time officer. You patrol solo and are responsible for being proactive and backing up beat units. Our reserves also take paper, every where from a vandalism to a murder. Then again, our reserves are well paid.

If you go to the next city over, they get no pay and dont take any paper. They basicly just do traffic stops and transport in-custodys.

It depends on how much you want to do.

[MrWingo]

Actually, I contacted the department and they've given me some great info. I should probably process further queries about specific roles through them. Thanks though!

[cecilVA]

Make sure you are fully aware of the duties of Auxiliaries/Reserves. Many a reserve has gotten in trouble for getting a pretty big head and doing things beyond the scope of his duties.